Medfer beacon XM never quiet got off the ground during the 2000-2001 season. We were able to erect the 8 foot antenna with 2 foot radius tophat, loading coil, and final amp. But the countepoise construction proved too difficult due to the large overlapping counterpoise of XMGR. Look for this beacon to become active during the summer of 2001, in QRSS(S) mode. We hope to convert it to WOLF mode as well before the Winter DX season arrives. In the early 1990's many Lowfers were also active in the so called X-band, just above the normal AM broadcast band. Operating at only 100mw of power into 3 meter long antennas, these beacons were widely heard. Reception reports extended out to well over 1,000 miles. Unfortunately, the last few years have seen many powerful AM stations move into the range of 1610-1700khz. This has caused the number of active Medfer beacons to decline to only a handful. Recently, many of us have been toying with the idea of opening up a new Medfer band on the low end of the broadcast band, between 510-515khz. This narrow range is much quieter than the old X-band, but also our small antennas will not be nearly as effective. XM will be one the first beacons to operate in this new range; it's proposed frequency of operation is 512khz. A North Carolina Medfer beacon, NC was heard at several hundred miles range on these low band frequencies this season. This was the first ever verified skywave reception on this part of the Medfer band. Quite an accomplishment. Check back here soon for more details and photos! © 2000 Les Rayburn, N1LF & Others.